Storing and comparing three-dimensional objects in three-dimensional storage

ABSTRACT

A computer-implemented method includes receiving first data representing a first physical object that has three dimensions. The first data may be stored, by a computer processor, as a first digital object representing the first physical object. Storing the first data may include storing a representation of the first data in a first plurality of layers. Each layer of the first plurality of layers may include a first plurality of cells. Each cell of the first plurality of cells may have one of: a first value indicating that the first physical object exists in a physical space corresponding to a position of the cell, and a second value indicating that the first physical object does not exist in the physical space corresponding to the position of the cell.

BACKGROUND

Embodiments of the present invention relate to data storage andcomparison and, more specifically, to storing and comparingthree-dimensional objects in three-dimensional storage.

It is often useful to compare three-dimensional (3D) objects. Forinstance, in the case of landscapes, one might compare a known landscapeto an encountered landscape to determine whether one has reached aparticular location. Further, comparing faces is performed during facialrecognition, for example, to identify suspects of crimes and todetermine whether access should be granted to a secure resource.

Generally, comparing 3D objects requires massive computations, which canbe costly in terms of both time and computing power.

SUMMARY

According to an embodiment of this disclosure, a computer-implementedmethod includes receiving first data representing a first physicalobject that has three dimensions. The first data may be stored, by acomputer processor, as a first digital object representing the firstphysical object. Storing the first data may include storing arepresentation of the first data in a first plurality of layers. Eachlayer of the first plurality of layers may include a first plurality ofcells. Each cell of the first plurality of cells may have one of: afirst value indicating that the first physical object exists in aphysical space corresponding to a position of the cell, and a secondvalue indicating that the first physical object does not exist in thephysical space corresponding to the position of the cell.

In another embodiment, a system includes a memory having computerreadable instructions and one or more processors for executing thecomputer readable instructions. The computer readable instructionsinclude receiving first data representing a first physical object thathas three dimensions. Further according to the computer readableinstructions, the first data may be stored as a first digital objectrepresenting the first physical object. Storing the first data mayinclude storing a representation of the first data in a first pluralityof layers. Each layer of the first plurality of layers may include afirst plurality of cells. Each cell of the first plurality of cells mayhave one of: a first value indicating that the first physical objectexists in a physical space corresponding to a position of the cell, anda second value indicating that the first physical object does not existin the physical space corresponding to the position of the cell.

In yet another embodiment, a computer program product for storingdigital objects representing physical objects includes a computerreadable storage medium having program instructions embodied therewith.The program instructions are executable by a processor to cause theprocessor to perform a method. The method includes receiving first datarepresenting a first physical object that has three dimensions. Furtheraccording to the method, the first data may be stored as a first digitalobject representing the first physical object. Storing the first datamay include storing a representation of the first data in a firstplurality of layers. Each layer of the first plurality of layers mayinclude a first plurality of cells. Each cell of the first plurality ofcells may have one of: a first value indicating that the first physicalobject exists in a physical space corresponding to a position of thecell, and a second value indicating that the first physical object doesnot exist in the physical space corresponding to the position of thecell.

Additional features and advantages are realized through the techniquesof the present invention. Other embodiments and aspects of the inventionare described in detail herein and are considered a part of the claimedinvention. For a better understanding of the invention with theadvantages and the features, refer to the description and to thedrawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The subject matter which is regarded as the invention is particularlypointed out and distinctly claimed in the claims at the conclusion ofthe specification. The forgoing and other features, and advantages ofthe invention are apparent from the following detailed description takenin conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:

FIGS. 1A-1B illustrate a storage system for three-dimensional (3D)storage, according to some embodiments of this disclosure;

FIG. 2 is a flow diagram of a method for entering a digital object intothe 3D storage to represent a physical object, according to someembodiments of this disclosure;

FIG. 3 illustrates example wiring of a memory surface of the 3D storage,according to some embodiments of this disclosure;

FIG. 4 illustrates another example wiring of a memory surface of the 3Dstorage, according to some embodiments of this disclosure;

FIG. 5 is a flow diagram of a method for comparing 3D objects stored inthe 3D storage, according to some embodiments of this disclosure; and

FIG. 6 is a block diagram of a computer system for implementing some orall aspects of the storage system, according to some embodiments of thisdisclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In conventional systems, data representing three-dimensional (3D)topologies of 3D physical objects is stored in two-dimensional (2D)memory. This makes computations associated with those physical objectsunwieldy and time-consuming. In contrast, various embodiments of thisdisclosure represent 3D physical objects in 3D storage, and mayefficiently compare such 3D physical objects to one another using the 3Dstorage.

FIGS. 1A-1B illustrates a storage system 100 for 3D storage 110,according to some embodiments of this disclosure. Specifically, FIG. 1Ashows a portion of a 2D vertical slice of data stored in the 3D storage110, while FIG. 1B illustrates a 3D view of the 3D storage 110. With 3Dstorage 110, a 3D physical object, also referred to herein as simply aphysical object, may be represented in a manner that reflects its 3Dnature.

The 3D storage 110 may include two or more 2D planes, or layers, ofcells 120. As shown in FIG. 1A, each cell 120 may be memory that can beset to either a value of 0 or a value of 1. In some embodiments, bitcells may be used, and in that case, each cell 120 may be capable ofholding only values of 0 and 1. It will be understood, however, thatcells 120 each having multiple bits may be used, although the use of bitcells may reduce the computing resources needed to store a digitalobject in the 3D storage 110 as compared to using larger cells.

A digital object representing a physical object, and stored in the 3Dstorage 110, may be a scaled representation of the physical object.Specifically, the digital object may represent the topology of thecorresponding physical object. Within the 3D storage 110, a cell 120having a value of 1 may indicate that the corresponding physical objectexists in a physical space corresponding to the position of that cell120, and a cell 120 having a value of 0 may indicate that thecorresponding physical object does not exist in that correspondingphysical space. It will be understood, however, that values other than 0and 1 may be used.

In other words, at each point, or set of x-y coordinates, on a planerepresenting the bottom of the digital object, the digital object risesupward from that plane to a particular altitude, and then rises nofurther. More specifically, from that plane representing the bottom,cells 120 with the x-y coordinates in question may each have a value of1 up to the cell 120 corresponding to the altitude of the digitalobject, which may represent the altitude of the physical object. Cells120 above the cell 120 corresponding to the altitude may have a value of0, indicating that the digital object does not exist in that space. Itwill be understood that the altitudes across the various x-y coordinatesmay vary based on the topology of the digital object. Thus, the topologyof the physical object may be represented by the digital object in the3D storage 110.

FIG. 2 is a flow diagram of a method 200 for entering a digital objectinto the 3D storage 110 to represent a physical object, according tosome embodiments of this disclosure. For instance, the physical objectmay be a landscape or a face. As shown, at block 210, data representingthe physical object may be received. For example, and not by way oflimitation, cameras exist to determine the distance between the cameraand the object being captured. Such a camera may be used to record aphysical object's topology as digital data, and such digital data may bereceived at block 210. At block 220, a representation of the receiveddata may be entered into the 3D storage 110 as a digital objectrepresenting the physical object. Specifically, the data may be enteredinto the cells 120 as is and 0s representing the topology of thephysical object.

FIG. 3 illustrates example wiring of the 3D storage 110, according tosome embodiments of this disclosure. From a hardware perspective, the 3Dstorage 110 may include two or more memory surfaces 300, which may bephysical devices such as memory chips, stacked atop one another. Eachmemory surface 300 in the stack may act as a plane, or layer, of the 3Dstorage 110. Each memory surface 300 may include two dimensions of cells120, such as bit cells. FIG. 3 specifically illustrates one memorysurface 300 of the cells 120. As shown, the cells 120 may be arranged ina grid of rows and columns. Each cell 120 may be connected by wiring tothe adjacent cells 120 within its row and within its column. Each cell120 may further be connected by wires to the cell 120 above and the cell120 below it in the stack of memory surfaces 300.

This wiring may enable efficient manipulation of the data. For instance,to shift a digital object stored in the 3D storage 110, the wiring mayfacilitate efficiently copying values from cell 120 to cell 120 acrosscolumns, rows, and vertically, so as to avoid having to performcalculations to determine specific coordinates of each value beingmoved.

FIG. 4 illustrates another example wiring of a memory surface 300 of the3D storage 110, according to some embodiments of this disclosure. Asshown, in some embodiments, the cells 120 may be further connected bywiring arranged in concentric circles, and the wires may be furtherarranged in spokes extending from a central cell 120. Although theconcentric circles and spokes shown center on a single cell 120 in FIG.4, in some embodiments, each cell 120 in the memory surface 300 may actas a center for a set of concentric circles, spokes, or both. Further,although only a single plane within a single memory surface 300 isshown, some embodiments may have additional concentric circles andspokes extending vertically and through diagonal planes of the 3Dstorage 110. For example, the concentric circles may bethree-dimensional, resulting in concentric spheres, which may center oneach cell 120 in the 3D storage 110.

In some other embodiments, however, only one set of concentric circles,or spheres, and spokes is used, centered on a central cell 120 of thememory surface 300. In such embodiments, when a topology of a physicalobject is entered into the 3D storage 110 as a digital object, the isrepresenting the topology may be entered so that the digital object iscentered on this center of the memory surface 300. Further, the centersof the stacked memory surfaces 300 may be aligned, such that theconcentric circles on each memory surface 300 are also aligned.

The wiring described above may enable additional efficient manipulationsof the data. For instance, to scale a digital object downward (i.e., toshrink it), values of the cells 120 may be copied inward along thespokes. Analogously, to scale a digital object upward (i.e., to enlargeit), values of the cells 120 may be copied outward along the spokes. Torotate a digital object, values may be rotated along the concentriccircles or spheres.

In some embodiments, it is assumed that digital objects are aligned inone axis, such as the z-axis. In the case of landscapes, herein, thez-axis may be an axis pointing straight up, opposite the direction ofgravity. In the case of faces, for example, the z-axis may point outthrough the nose, perpendicular to the direction of gravity. Thisassumption can be made because, in some embodiments, the digital objectsmay be entered into the 3D storage 110 with this assumption used as astandard. In other words, for example, landscapes may be entered withthe z-axis pointing opposite gravity.

FIG. 5 is a flow diagram of a method 500 for comparing digital objectsstored in the 3D storage 110, and thus for comparing the correspondingphysical objects, according to some embodiments of this disclosure.Specifically, a first digital object may be compared with a seconddigital object, both stored in 3D storage 110, to determine whether thefirst digital object and the second digital object have the sametopology and thus represent the same physical object. For example, andnot by way of limitation, this method 500 may be used for facialrecognition or to match a current location to a known landscape. In someembodiments, the first digital object and the second digital object maybe stored in separate 3D storages 110, which may mean being stored ondistinct memory surfaces 300, or being stored on the same memory surface300 but in a distinct coordinate space.

As shown, at block 510, a first reference point may be selected withineach of the first and second digital objects. For each digital object,the first reference point may be chosen in the same manner, so as toensure that if the first and second objects represent the same physicalobject, then the reference points chosen are also the same. In someembodiments, for each digital object, the first reference point is ahighest point in the digital object. If the first digital object and thesecond digital object are the same physical object, then in someembodiments, the highest point of these two digital objects will be thesame point.

The find the highest point, to be used as the first reference point, thehighest layer of each digital object may be selected. This may beperformed be identifying the highest layer of the 3D storage 110 for thedigital object that includes at least one value of 1 in its cells 120.Given the above description of the 3D storage 110, one of skill in theart will understand how to identify the highest layer with at least onevalue of 1. For example, and not by way of limitation, a binary searchmay be performed on the layers to identify the highest layer with atleast one value of 1.

For each of the first and second digital object, each cell 120 with avalue of 1 within the highest layer of that digital object may be deemeda candidate reference point. One of the candidate reference points ofthe first digital object may be selected as the reference point of thefirst digital object, and one of the candidate reference points of thesecond digital object may be selected as the reference point of thesecond digital object.

At block 520, one or both of the first and second digital objects may beshifted such that their first reference points reside at the same x-ycoordinates within their respective 3D storages 110. In other words, thedigital objects may be shifted, with the value of each cell 120remaining in its original layer, or plane. After the first referencepoints are positioned at the same x-y coordinates within theirrespective spaces, the first and second digital objects may be rotatedand scaled, as described below, in an attempt to fully align them witheach other.

At block 530, a second reference point may be selected within each ofthe first and second digital objects. In some embodiments, for eachdigital object, the second reference point is a peak or a valley of thedigital object's topology. For example, in some embodiments, a secondhighest peak may selected within each digital object as the secondreference point for that digital object, where the first reference pointwas the highest point, or highest peak.

In some embodiments, a second highest peak is represented by a cell 120residing in a layer that is below the highest layer of the digitalobject, but that is the highest layer that has at least one value of 1that is not adjacent to the highest point by a sequence of adjacentvalues of 1. In other words, the second highest point may represent adistinct peak, such that the topology of the digital object movingoutward from that peak also moves downward before climbing upward to thehighest point. Regardless of how the second reference point is chosen,the same manner for selecting the reference point may be used on boththe first and second digital objects. As a result, in some embodiments,if the first and second digital objects are the same, the secondreference points of the first and second digital objects are also thesame.

If the first and second digital objects represent the same physicalobject, then rotating and scaling one or both of the first seconddigital objects so as to position the second reference points of the twodigital objects at the same second x-y coordinates within theirrespective coordinate space, while maintaining the first referencepoints at their same first x-y coordinates may thus result in the firstand second digital objects having the same scaling and orientation aseach other. This rotating and scaling may be performed at blocks 540through 560.

To this end, at block 540, for each digital object, a distance betweenthe first reference point and the second reference point of that digitalobject may be determined. One of skill in the art will understand how tocalculate this distance. In some embodiments, for example, this distancemay be calculated based on the assumption that each cell 120 is a cubewith an established width, height, and depth. For instance, this width,height, and depth may each be given a value of 1. Given this, thedistance calculation may be performed by imagining the 3D storage 110 asan arrangement of these cubes, with each reference point existing at thecenter of the cube corresponding to the cell 120 of that referencepoint. After the distance calculations are performed, the first digitalobject may have a calculated distance between its first reference pointand its second reference point, and the second digital object may have acalculated distance between its first reference point and its secondreference point.

At block 550, one or both of the first and second digital objects may bescaled such that the distance between the first and second referencepoints in the first digital object matches the distance between thefirst and second reference points in the second digital object. Forexample, the second digital object may be scaled to increase or decreasethe distance between its first and second reference points, as needed,to match the distance between the first and second reference points ofthe first digital object. After this scaling, in some embodiments, ifthe first and second digital objects represent the same physical object,their scaling is now also the same. However, the first and seconddigital objects may not yet have the same orientation.

At block 560, one or both of the first and second digital objects may berotated, leaving the first reference points at their matching first x-ycoordinates, so as to put the second reference point at second x-ycoordinates that are the same for both digital objects. For example, thesecond digital object may be rotated around the vertical axis goingthrough the first reference point, so as to place its second referencepoint at the same x-y coordinates of the first digital object's secondreference point.

It will be understood that blocks 540 and 550 may be swapped with block560, such that the rotating occurs before the scaling. For example, oneor both digital objects may be rotated so as to make parallel andoverlapping the lines connecting their respective first and secondreference points. The scaling may then be used to put the secondreference points at the same x-y coordinates as each other.

At block 570, one of the first and second digital objects may besubtracted from the other. For example, the second digital object may besubtracted from the first digital object. To subtract the second digitalobject from the first digital object in 3D storage 110, each column ofcells 120 at an x-y position in the second digital object may besubtracted from the corresponding column of cells 120 at the same x-ycoordinates in the first digital object. Generally, from the bottomupward, each column may have zero or more cells 120 having values of 1,followed by zero or more cells 120 with values of 0. The subtraction maybe performed by reducing the height (i.e., the number of cells 120having a value of 1) of the column in the first digital object by theheight of the column in the second digital object. Further, in someembodiments, the subtraction further includes taking an absolute value,such that the height of each resulting column is the absolute value ofthe difference between the corresponding columns of the first and seconddigital objects. The result of subtracting one digital object from theother may be a digital object representing the difference between thefirst digital object and the second digital object.

At decision block 580, it may be determined whether the differencebetween the first and second digital objects is no greater than athreshold. If this difference is relatively flat, then the first digitalobject and the second digital object may be deemed to match and, thus,to represent the same physical object. For example, and not by way oflimitation, a threshold difference may be established, where thatthreshold difference may itself be a digital object stored in 3D storage110. If the difference between the first and second digital objects isno greater than the threshold difference, then the first and seconddigital objects may be deemed to match. Further, in some embodiments,one digital object may be considered no greater than another digitalobject if each column at each set of x-y coordinates of the one digitalobject is no higher than the corresponding column at the same x-ycoordinates of the other digital object.

If the difference is no greater than the threshold difference, then atblock 585, the first and second digital objects may be deemed to matchand to represent the same physical object. If the difference is greaterthan the threshold difference, then at decision block 590, it may bedetermined whether additional candidate reference points exist for oneof the two digital objects, for example, the first digital object.

In some embodiments, the method 500 may try all combinations ofcandidate reference points of the first and second digital objects, butin some other embodiments, only the candidate reference points of onedigital object are considered for additional attempts at matching.Generally, it may be expected that if the two digital objects match, atleast one of the candidate reference points of the first digital objectwill lead to match based on one selected candidate reference point ofthe second digital object. If an additional candidate reference pointremains and has not yet been selected as the first reference point fordetermining whether the first and second digital objects match, then atblock 595, that additional candidate reference point may be selected asthe first reference point. Additionally, in that case, the method 500may return to block 520 after the additional candidate reference pointis chosen as the first reference point. On the other hand, if allcandidate reference points have been tried and no match has been foundbetween the first and second digital objects, then at block 598, thefirst and second digital objects may be deemed not to represent the samephysical object.

One of skill in the art will understand that, analogously, multiplecandidate second reference points may be used for the second referencepoint when determining whether the first and second digital objectsmatch. In that case, after selecting a new second reference point touse, the method 500 may return to block 540 to test the first and seconddigital objects for matching.

FIG. 6 illustrates a block diagram of a computer system 600 for use inimplementing a storage system or method according to some embodiments.The storage systems and methods described herein may be implemented inhardware, software (e.g., firmware), or a combination thereof. In someembodiments, the methods described may be implemented, at least in part,in hardware and may be part of the microprocessor of a special orgeneral-purpose computer system 600, such as a personal computer,workstation, minicomputer, or mainframe computer.

In some embodiments, as shown in FIG. 6, the computer system 600includes a processor 605, memory 610 coupled to a memory controller 615,and one or more input devices 645 and/or output devices 640, such asperipherals, that are communicatively coupled via a local I/O controller635. These devices 640 and 645 may include, for example, a printer, ascanner, a microphone, and the like. Input devices such as aconventional keyboard 650 and mouse 655 may be coupled to the I/Ocontroller 635. The I/O controller 635 may be, for example, one or morebuses or other wired or wireless connections, as are known in the art.The I/O controller 635 may have additional elements, which are omittedfor simplicity, such as controllers, buffers (caches), drivers,repeaters, and receivers, to enable communications.

The I/O devices 640, 645 may further include devices that communicateboth inputs and outputs, for instance disk and tape storage, a networkinterface card (NIC) or modulator/demodulator (for accessing otherfiles, devices, systems, or a network), a radio frequency (RF) or othertransceiver, a telephonic interface, a bridge, a router, and the like.

The processor 605 is a hardware device for executing hardwareinstructions or software, particularly those stored in memory 610. Theprocessor 605 may be a custom made or commercially available processor,a central processing unit (CPU), an auxiliary processor among severalprocessors associated with the computer system 600, a semiconductorbased microprocessor (in the form of a microchip or chip set), amacroprocessor, or other device for executing instructions. Theprocessor 605 includes a cache 670, which may include, but is notlimited to, an instruction cache to speed up executable instructionfetch, a data cache to speed up data fetch and store, and a translationlookaside buffer (TLB) used to speed up virtual-to-physical addresstranslation for both executable instructions and data. The cache 670 maybe organized as a hierarchy of more cache levels (L1, L2, etc.).

The memory 610 may include one or combinations of volatile memoryelements (e.g., random access memory, RAM, such as DRAM, SRAM, SDRAM,etc.) and nonvolatile memory elements (e.g., ROM, erasable programmableread only memory (EPROM), electronically erasable programmable read onlymemory (EEPROM), programmable read only memory (PROM), tape, compactdisc read only memory (CD-ROM), disk, diskette, cartridge, cassette orthe like, etc.). Moreover, the memory 610 may incorporate electronic,magnetic, optical, or other types of storage media. Note that the memory610 may have a distributed architecture, where various components aresituated remote from one another but may be accessed by the processor605.

The instructions in memory 610 may include one or more separateprograms, each of which comprises an ordered listing of executableinstructions for implementing logical functions. In the example of FIG.6, the instructions in the memory 610 include a suitable operatingsystem (OS) 611. The operating system 611 essentially may control theexecution of other computer programs and provides scheduling,input-output control, file and data management, memory management, andcommunication control and related services.

Additional data, including, for example, instructions for the processor605 or other retrievable information, may be stored in storage 620,which may be a storage device such as a hard disk drive or solid statedrive. In some embodiments, the storage 620 includes 3D storage 110,such as that described above. The stored instructions in memory 610 orin storage 620 may include those enabling the processor to execute oneor more aspects of the storage systems and methods of this disclosure.

The computer system 600 may further include a display controller 625coupled to a display 630. In some embodiments, the computer system 600may further include a network interface 660 for coupling to a network665. The network 665 may be an IP-based network for communicationbetween the computer system 600 and an external server, client and thelike via a broadband connection. The network 665 transmits and receivesdata between the computer system 600 and external systems. In someembodiments, the network 665 may be a managed IP network administered bya service provider. The network 665 may be implemented in a wirelessfashion, e.g., using wireless protocols and technologies, such as WiFi,WiMax, etc. The network 665 may also be a packet-switched network suchas a local area network, wide area network, metropolitan area network,the Internet, or other similar type of network environment. The network665 may be a fixed wireless network, a wireless local area network(LAN), a wireless wide area network (WAN) a personal area network (PAN),a virtual private network (VPN), intranet or other suitable networksystem and may include equipment for receiving and transmitting signals.

Storage systems and methods according to this disclosure may beembodied, in whole or in part, in computer program products or incomputer systems 600, such as that illustrated in FIG. 6.

Technical effects and benefits of some embodiments include the abilityto store digital objects in 3D storage 110 that mirrors the actualtopologies of corresponding physical objects. Further, because of thestructure of the 3D storage 110, manipulations of the digital objectsmay be performed without at least some of the complex mathematicalcalculations conventionally performed.

The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particularembodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the invention. Asused herein, the singular forms “a”, “an” and “the” are intended toinclude the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicatesotherwise. It will be further understood that the terms “comprises”and/or “comprising,” when used in this specification, specify thepresence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements,and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of oneor more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements,components, and/or groups thereof.

The corresponding structures, materials, acts, and equivalents of allmeans or step plus function elements in the claims below are intended toinclude any structure, material, or act for performing the function incombination with other claimed elements as specifically claimed. Thedescription of the present invention has been presented for purposes ofillustration and description, but is not intended to be exhaustive orlimited to the invention in the form disclosed. Many modifications andvariations will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the artwithout departing from the scope and spirit of the invention. Theembodiments were chosen and described in order to best explain theprinciples of the invention and the practical application, and to enableothers of ordinary skill in the art to understand the invention forvarious embodiments with various modifications as are suited to theparticular use contemplated.

The present invention may be a system, a method, and/or a computerprogram product. The computer program product may include a computerreadable storage medium (or media) having computer readable programinstructions thereon for causing a processor to carry out aspects of thepresent invention.

The computer readable storage medium can be a tangible device that canretain and store instructions for use by an instruction executiondevice. The computer readable storage medium may be, for example, but isnot limited to, an electronic storage device, a magnetic storage device,an optical storage device, an electromagnetic storage device, asemiconductor storage device, or any suitable combination of theforegoing. A non-exhaustive list of more specific examples of thecomputer readable storage medium includes the following: a portablecomputer diskette, a hard disk, a random access memory (RAM), aread-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROMor Flash memory), a static random access memory (SRAM), a portablecompact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), a digital versatile disk (DVD),a memory stick, a floppy disk, a mechanically encoded device such aspunch-cards or raised structures in a groove having instructionsrecorded thereon, and any suitable combination of the foregoing. Acomputer readable storage medium, as used herein, is not to be construedas being transitory signals per se, such as radio waves or other freelypropagating electromagnetic waves, electromagnetic waves propagatingthrough a waveguide or other transmission media (e.g., light pulsespassing through a fiber-optic cable), or electrical signals transmittedthrough a wire.

Computer readable program instructions described herein can bedownloaded to respective computing/processing devices from a computerreadable storage medium or to an external computer or external storagedevice via a network, for example, the Internet, a local area network, awide area network and/or a wireless network. The network may comprisecopper transmission cables, optical transmission fibers, wirelesstransmission, routers, firewalls, switches, gateway computers and/oredge servers. A network adapter card or network interface in eachcomputing/processing device receives computer readable programinstructions from the network and forwards the computer readable programinstructions for storage in a computer readable storage medium withinthe respective computing/processing device.

Computer readable program instructions for carrying out operations ofthe present invention may be assembler instructions,instruction-set-architecture (ISA) instructions, machine instructions,machine dependent instructions, microcode, firmware instructions,state-setting data, or either source code or object code written in anycombination of one or more programming languages, including an objectoriented programming language such as Java, Smalltalk, C++ or the like,and conventional procedural programming languages, such as the “C”programming language or similar programming languages. The computerreadable program instructions may execute entirely on the user'scomputer, partly on the user's computer, as a stand-alone softwarepackage, partly on the user's computer and partly on a remote computeror entirely on the remote computer or server. In the latter scenario,the remote computer may be connected to the user's computer through anytype of network, including a local area network (LAN) or a wide areanetwork (WAN), or the connection may be made to an external computer(for example, through the Internet using an Internet Service Provider).In some embodiments, electronic circuitry including, for example,programmable logic circuitry, field-programmable gate arrays (FPGA), orprogrammable logic arrays (PLA) may execute the computer readableprogram instructions by utilizing state information of the computerreadable program instructions to personalize the electronic circuitry,in order to perform aspects of the present invention.

Aspects of the present invention are described herein with reference toflowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams of methods, apparatus(systems), and computer program products according to embodiments of theinvention. It will be understood that each block of the flowchartillustrations and/or block diagrams, and combinations of blocks in theflowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, can be implemented bycomputer readable program instructions.

These computer readable program instructions may be provided to aprocessor of a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, orother programmable data processing apparatus to produce a machine, suchthat the instructions, which execute via the processor of the computeror other programmable data processing apparatus, create means forimplementing the functions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or blockdiagram block or blocks. These computer readable program instructionsmay also be stored in a computer readable storage medium that can directa computer, a programmable data processing apparatus, and/or otherdevices to function in a particular manner, such that the computerreadable storage medium having instructions stored therein comprises anarticle of manufacture including instructions which implement aspects ofthe function/act specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram blockor blocks.

The computer readable program instructions may also be loaded onto acomputer, other programmable data processing apparatus, or other deviceto cause a series of operational steps to be performed on the computer,other programmable apparatus or other device to produce a computerimplemented process, such that the instructions which execute on thecomputer, other programmable apparatus, or other device implement thefunctions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block orblocks.

The flowchart and block diagrams in the Figures illustrate thearchitecture, functionality, and operation of possible implementationsof systems, methods, and computer program products according to variousembodiments of the present invention. In this regard, each block in theflowchart or block diagrams may represent a module, segment, or portionof instructions, which comprises one or more executable instructions forimplementing the specified logical function(s). In some alternativeimplementations, the functions noted in the block may occur out of theorder noted in the figures. For example, two blocks shown in successionmay, in fact, be executed substantially concurrently, or the blocks maysometimes be executed in the reverse order, depending upon thefunctionality involved. It will also be noted that each block of theblock diagrams and/or flowchart illustration, and combinations of blocksin the block diagrams and/or flowchart illustration, can be implementedby special purpose hardware-based systems that perform the specifiedfunctions or acts or carry out combinations of special purpose hardwareand computer instructions.

The descriptions of the various embodiments of the present inventionhave been presented for purposes of illustration, but are not intendedto be exhaustive or limited to the embodiments disclosed. Manymodifications and variations will be apparent to those of ordinary skillin the art without departing from the scope and spirit of the describedembodiments. The terminology used herein was chosen to best explain theprinciples of the embodiments, the practical application or technicalimprovement over technologies found in the marketplace, or to enableothers of ordinary skill in the art to understand the embodimentsdisclosed herein.

What is claimed is: 1-7. (canceled)
 8. A system comprising: a memoryhaving computer readable instructions; and one or more processors forexecuting the computer readable instructions, the computer readableinstructions comprising: receiving first data representing a firstphysical object that has three dimensions; and storing the first data asa first digital object representing the first physical object, whereinstoring the first data comprises: storing a representation of the firstdata in a first plurality of layers, each layer comprising a pluralityof cells, and each cell having one of: a first value indicating that thefirst physical object exists in a physical space corresponding to aposition of the cell, and a second value indicating that the firstphysical object does not exist in the physical space corresponding tothe position of the cell.
 9. The system of claim 8, wherein the firstplurality of layers comprises a plurality of physical memory surfacesstacked atop one another, and wherein the plurality of cells are memorycells in the plurality of physical memory surfaces.
 10. The system ofclaim 8, the computer readable instructions further comprising: storinga second digital object representing a second physical object, whereinthe second digital object comprises a second plurality of layers, eachlayer comprising a plurality of cells, and each cell having one of: afirst value indicating that the second physical object exists in aphysical space corresponding to a position of the cell, and a secondvalue indicating that the second physical object does not exist in thephysical space corresponding to the position of the cell; and comparingthe first digital object to the second digital object to determinewhether the first physical object is the same as the second physicalobject.
 11. The system of claim 8, wherein comparing the first digitalobject to the second digital object to determine whether the firstphysical object is the same as the second physical object furthercomprises: modifying the second digital object to match a scaling andorientation of the first digital object; generating a difference digitalobject by subtracting the second physical object from the first digitalobject; and determining that the first physical object and the secondphysical object are the same, responsive to the difference digitalobject being no greater than a threshold digital object.
 12. The systemof claim 11, wherein modifying the second digital object to match thescaling and orientation of the first digital object further comprises:selecting a first reference point in the first digital object; selectinga second reference point in the first digital object; selecting a thirdreference point in the second digital object, wherein a mechanism usedto select the third reference point is the same as the mechanism used toselect the first reference point; selecting a fourth reference point inthe second digital object, wherein a mechanism used to select the fourthreference point is the same as the mechanism used to select the secondreference point; and scaling the second digital object to make adistance between the first reference point and the second referencepoint in the first digital object match a distance between the thirdreference point and the fourth reference point in the second digitalobject.
 13. The system of claim 11, wherein modifying the second digitalobject to match the scaling and orientation of the first digital objectfurther comprises: selecting a first reference point in the firstdigital object; selecting a second reference point in the first digitalobject; selecting a third reference point in the second digital object,wherein a mechanism used to select the third reference point is the sameas the mechanism used to select the first reference point; selecting afourth reference point in the second digital object, wherein a mechanismused to select the fourth reference point is the same as the mechanismused to select the second reference point; and rotating the seconddigital object to make a first line between the first reference pointand the second reference point in the first digital object parallel to asecond line between the third reference point and the fourth referencepoint in the second digital object.
 14. The system of claim 11, whereingenerating the difference digital object by subtracting the secondphysical object from the first digital object further comprises:reducing a height of a first column at first x-y coordinates in thefirst digital object by a height of a second column at the first x-ycoordinates in the second digital object.
 15. A computer program productfor storing digital objects representing physical objects, the computerprogram product comprising a computer readable storage medium havingprogram instructions embodied therewith, the program instructionsexecutable by a processor to cause the processor to perform a methodcomprising: receiving first data representing a first physical objectthat has three dimensions; and storing the first data as a first digitalobject representing the first physical object, wherein storing the firstdata comprises: storing a representation of the first data in a firstplurality of layers, each layer comprising a plurality of cells, andeach cell having one of: a first value indicating that the firstphysical object exists in a physical space corresponding to a positionof the cell, and a second value indicating that the first physicalobject does not exist in the physical space corresponding to theposition of the cell.
 16. The computer program product of claim 15,wherein the first plurality of layers comprises a plurality of physicalmemory surfaces stacked atop one another, and wherein the plurality ofcells are memory cells in the plurality of physical memory surfaces. 17.The computer program product of claim 15, the method further comprising:storing a second digital object representing a second physical object,wherein the second digital object comprises a second plurality oflayers, each layer comprising a plurality of cells, and each cell havingone of: a first value indicating that the second physical object existsin a physical space corresponding to a position of the cell, and asecond value indicating that the second physical object does not existin the physical space corresponding to the position of the cell; andcomparing the first digital object to the second digital object todetermine whether the first physical object is the same as the secondphysical object.
 18. The computer program product of claim 15, whereincomparing the first digital object to the second digital object todetermine whether the first physical object is the same as the secondphysical object further comprises: modifying the second digital objectto match a scaling and orientation of the first digital object;generating a difference digital object by subtracting the secondphysical object from the first digital object; and determining that thefirst physical object and the second physical object are the same,responsive to the difference digital object being no greater than athreshold digital object.
 19. The computer program product of claim 18,wherein modifying the second digital object to match the scaling andorientation of the first digital object further comprises: selecting afirst reference point in the first digital object; selecting a secondreference point in the first digital object; selecting a third referencepoint in the second digital object, wherein a mechanism used to selectthe third reference point is the same as the mechanism used to selectthe first reference point; selecting a fourth reference point in thesecond digital object, wherein a mechanism used to select the fourthreference point is the same as the mechanism used to select the secondreference point; and performing at least one of: scaling the seconddigital object to make a distance between the first reference point andthe second reference point in the first digital object match a distancebetween the third reference point and the fourth reference point in thesecond digital object, and rotating the second digital object to make afirst line between the first reference point and the second referencepoint in the first digital object parallel to a second line between thethird reference point and the fourth reference point in the seconddigital object.
 20. The computer program product of claim 18, whereingenerating the difference digital object by subtracting the secondphysical object from the first digital object further comprises:reducing a height of a first column at first x-y coordinates in thefirst digital object by a height of a second column at the first x-ycoordinates in the second digital object.